Corporate stuff

Lucas: Disney might have been Star Wars' only hope

In a video released today, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas explained that he decided to sell his media empire to The Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion because he believed it would "protect" Lucasfilm and its cash cow, the "Star Wars" franchise.

Sitting at a table alongside Lucasfilm co-chairman Kathleen Kennedy -- who will be Lucasfilm's president under Disney -- Lucas explained that in recent months, as he had mulled retirement and what he wanted to do with his life, he realized that the "perfect person to take over the company … Read more

Private jet flying, Uber-style

Those wanting to fly private may soon have a new option: reserving a jet, Uber-style.

In recent months, Uber has made waves in cities around the world with its on-call private car service -- riders simply pull up Uber's app, push a button saying they need a ride, and before they know it, a car arrives to whisk them away, and the fee is automatically charged to a credit card.

Now, according to AllThingsD, StumbleUpon founder and Uber co-founder Garrett Camp is leading a funding round in the single-digit millions, as well as product development, for a new company … Read more

Where does Zynga go from here?

Yesterday, Zynga announced a big write-off and told Wall Street its growth was slowing. Today, Wall Street returned the favor by crushing Zynga shares, forcing them down 12 percent to $2.48.

Analysts say Zynga could still recover. It remains a leader in the casual-gaming industry, with more than 300 million monthly users, and as of July 30, it held a decent financial cushion in the form of $436 million in cash and equivalents on hand -- a good chunk of the $1 billion it raised in its IPO late last year.

It's starting to look like Zynga's … Read more

Nestle taps GPS tracking in modern Willy Wonka contest

Sweet! Nestle has randomly put a GPS tracking device into half a dozen chocolate bars sold in the U.K. and Ireland, giving candy connoisseurs a chance to win 10,000 pounds ($16,218) upon discovery.

As Obi-Wan Kenobi would probably say, it is as if millions of British dentists suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. … Read more

Feds demand $1B from LCD maker for price-fixing

The U.S. Department of Justice has reined down hard on a Taiwanese LCD screen maker in court, demanding $1 billion in fines and significant jail time for two former executives.

According to the Associated Press, AU Optronics carried out an extensive price-fixing scheme that feds said was the most significant ever prosecuted in the U.S. During a federal trial in March, the jury found both AU Optronics and two of its executives, Hsuan Bin Chen and Hui Hsiung, guilty of price-fixing.

The original complaints for the case alleged that the company worked to create an international "cartel&… Read more

Samsung accused of labor violations in China

"Serious legal violations and labor abuses" have been found at Samsung factories, according to a U.S.-based labor group.

The organization, China Labor Watch, released a report today detailing its investigations into eight factories in China, six of which were directly operated by Samsung, two of which made products for the electronics company but were run by suppliers.

Among the abuses found by China Labor Watch (CLW) at the factories were staff being "forced" to work 100 hours of overtime a month, unpaid hours and unsafe conditions.

The report says that workers at the eight … Read more

Cloud gaming company OnLive shutting down -- report

Update: Late Friday, OnLive confirmed the sale of its assets to an unnamed suitor, who will continue to offer its cloud gaming service. Read the story, "So OnLive isn't dead -- it just sold all its assets to a new owner," here.

Cloud gaming company OnLive appears to be in turmoil, having possibly fired all of its employees and prepping for a bankruptcy filing, according to rumors reported by Kotaku.

The gaming blog cited a tweet from InXile Entertainment CEO Brian Fargo, who reported getting an email from a just-fired employee who relayed the company was dead. … Read more

Forget LinkedIn: Companies turn to GitHub to find tech talent

LinkedIn is so 2011.

In the red-hot market for skilled software engineers, companies looking to make great hires are discovering that relying on traditional services that showcase candidates' work histories -- but not their actual work -- is a great way to miss out on the best available talent.

These days, there's a new game in town -- GitHub, a place where hiring managers and recruiters alike are increasingly turning to find not just the potential employees who look best on paper, but the ones that actively (and publicly) demonstrate their capabilities.

Last month, Andreessen Horowitz, one of the … Read more

AngelList launches talent recruiting portal

Are you a tech startup desperate to hire the best talent around and looking for a central repository of skilled engineers? Or a kick-butt coder trying to get in on the ground floor of a hot new venture? AngelList may have just the place to go.

This evening, AngelList, a service whose alumni companies have raised more than $1.1 billion in funding, launched a new talent portal, a one-stop shop where startups can search for qualified tech talent, and where skilled engineers and others can seek out the best new companies.

"We noticed that people were using AngelList … Read more

Founder Schulze submits proposal to acquire Best Buy

Best Buy founder and ousted chairman Richard Schulze has, as expected, submitted a proposal to acquire the brick-and-mortar retailer.

Under the terms of the deal, Schulze, who owns about 20 percent of Best Buy already, would pay between $24 and $26 per share in cash to the company to acquire the outstanding shares he doesn't own. If Best Buy were to accept the offer, the company would score a premium of 36 percent to 47 percent on its Friday closing price of $17.64.

If Schulze gets his way, he'll take Best Buy from the stock market and … Read more